Route of Commemorative Plaques

15. Pasteurstraat 21

This was the home of CHRISTIANUS FRANCISCUS JOHANNES BOERS
Murdered in Oranienburg on 03/05/1942

Christiaan Boers (The Hague, 24 October 1889 – Oranienburg, 3 May 1942) spent his younger years in The Hague. His parents, Benjamin Hendrik Boers and Catharina Petronella Westerburger, send him to a private school and he was then expected to complete military training.

From Breda to Amersfoort

After the military academy in Breda, Christiaan ends up in Amersfoort. In 1921, the ‘first Lieutenant of the Infantry’ lived at Utrechtseweg 100; he was married to Helena Wiepkes from the municipality of ‘Wijk aan Zee en Duin’ and they had two sons, Henk (1919) and Dirk (1921). The marriage to Helena, however, did not work out and ended in divorce. In 1933, he married the 26-year old Janna Metz from Pasteurstraat 21. By then, Christiaan had risen to the rank of ‘Infantry Captain’.

Defence and resistance

During the German attack on the Netherlands in 1940, Captain Boers was in command of around 250 men who were stationed in heavy-duty, concrete bunkers at the Kornwerderzand position, one of the few locations in Western-Europe that German troops had been unable to access during the Blitzkrieg. After the surrender, he signed up with the ‘Ordedienst’ or the body of officials responsible for order (OD) In the spring and summer of 1941, as a result of German infiltration into the organisation, there were many arrests within the OD. Boers was one of those arrested and was imprisoned in the Oranjehotel in Scheveningen. In the so-called ‘1st Ordedienst Trial’, he was found guilty of espionage and arms smuggling. Seventy-two men were sentenced to death, including Christiaan Boers. The guilty men were deported to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp.

Goodbye letter

During the night before his execution, he wrote a goodbye letter to his two sons to say that although he found the punishment hard to bear, he had no regrets about his acts. He concluded with: ‘Boys, your life lies before you! May you be successful and happy and not only focus on the things you seek but also on the things that life can offer you. God will strengthen and watch over you both! With my warmest regards and firm handshakes. Your loving father.’

Christiaan Boers was executed on 3 May 1942 in the Kommando Oranienburg. He was buried there, in a mass grave.

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